Method and system for providing presence information

ABSTRACT

A system and method for a user to send presence information to authorized contacts in her device&#39;s address book and to receive the presence information of those contacts in her device&#39;s address book that have authorized her. A user can authorize any contact in her address book. Optionally, a user can only authorize a contact and be authorized by a contact if she is in that contact&#39;s address book. A local application on the device interacts with and displays the device&#39;s address book, manages the authorization of contacts, updates the user&#39;s presence, and receives and displays the presence of contacts. The local application updates the user&#39;s presence manually, semi-automatically, or automatically. Semi-automatic updates involve synchronizing with the device&#39;s calendar. Automatic updates may involve the use of location data, the device&#39;s built-in sensors, and augmented reality.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

REFERENCE TO A SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTINGCOMPACT DISK APPENDIX

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to telecommunications systems and socialnetworks, more particularly, to networks of device users sharing commoncontacts and how they are connected together to create a social network.

2. Description of the Related Art

In computer and telecommunications networks, presence information is astatus indicator that conveys the ability and willingness of a potentialcommunication partner to communicate.

A basic feature of a telephone (including cell phones, desktop phones,wireless phones, etc.) or any other device that can communicate withothers (such as desktop computer, laptops, netbooks, and tablets usinge-mail, Voice-Over-Internet (VoIP), etc.) is the address book. Anaddress book is a database used for storing entries called contacts.Each contact entry usually consists of a few standard fields (forexample: first name, last name, company name, address, telephone number,e-mail address, domain name, fax number, and mobile phone number). Inthis document, the term, address book, refers to this database and theterm, device, refers to any device equipped with an address book havingthe ability to access the Internet.

The act of someone storing a contact in the address book of her deviceis an implicit indication that she knows the entity (a person or acompany) that the contact is describing. It is also an implicitindication that the users of two devices know each other if the addressbook of each device contains the contact information of the otherperson.

A number of systems exist that include a means by which users canvoluntarily announce their presence on the system. Relevant presenceinformation, which is also referred to herein as “presence”, is madeavailable to those on the system that wish to receive the information.

A social network, as used in the present specification, is a datastructure that ties individuals and organizations together. One or morespecific types of interdependency connect these entities. The mostcommon method of creating a social network is based on the paradigm ofinvitation. There are several methods for invitation. The system cansend invitations to those who are not members of the system yet. To beable to invite, the inviter must already have the invitee's contactinformation available. The most common source of such contactinformation is an address book. Moreover, a member of the social networkcan search for and find the user identifier of an already registeredinvitee with whom she wants to become friends with. The user sends aninvitation message to the invitee to initialize the process of becomingfriends. After the invitation has been sent, the inviter waits for theinvitee in an asynchronous manner to confirm the invitation by replyingto the message in a positive manner. This process of “friending” has tobe carried out for each invitee in order to build a network. Onedrawback of the method is that the asynchronous nature of theinvitation/response process slows down the creation of individualconnections. Furthermore, repeating the manual process of creating aconnection makes the method cumbersome to use.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to facilitate user interaction ina network by exchanging presence information with each other.

Another object is to simplify the process of creating connections in asocial network.

Another object is a method of identifying users based on their phonenumber and their address book.

One aspect of the present invention allows a user to send presenceinformation to authorized contacts in her device's address book and toreceive the presence information of those contacts in her device'saddress book that have authorized her. At its most basic, presenceinformation is an indication of the availability of the user for phonecalls and/or text messages. Optionally, presence can include additionalinformation such as a short message, a picture, a video, the time zoneor local time where the device is located, the weather conditions wherethe phone is located, ambient information such as noise or light level,calendar entries present on the device, and/or the physical location ofthe device.

A basic hardware system includes wireless phone services that providesaccess to the Internet for each phone. Internet service providersprovide Internet access for computers.

The system is implemented in a client-server (CS) architecture or apeer-to-peer (PP) architecture. The main element of the system is alocal application running on the phone. Users register their devices toenable the local application and are referred to as clients. The systemconsists of one or more central servers that are responsible forhandling registration of clients and storing system membershipinformation and the history of each client. In the CS architecture, thecentral server as also responsible for handling the client connectionsand distributing the presence information. In the PP architecture,clients exchange presence with each other directly. A client can be anydevice that has an address book and display, and is capable ofoperatively connecting to the central server.

A link, a logical connection between two clients, is created when afirst client authorizes a second client to access her presence. Thesystem permits a user to authorize any contact in her address book. Ifthe user is in the contact's address book and the contact is a client,access is granted immediately. Otherwise access is granted if and whenthe user is added to the contact's address book and the contact becomesa client. Optionally, a user can only authorize a contact and beauthorized by a contact if she is in that contact's address book.

In another aspect of the present invention, the method of authorizingand being authorized is applied to the friending process of socialnetworks where a member of the social network can unilaterally friendany contact in her address book. If the friending member is in thecontact's address book and the contact is a member, the contact isimmediately given access to the friending member. Otherwise, once thefriending member is added to the contact's address book and the contactbecomes a member, the friended contact is notified of being friended andis given access to the friending member. Optionally, friending is onlyallowed between members that are in each others' address books.

Upon registering with the social network, the system automaticallyfriends a predetermined subset of the contacts in her address book. Thenthe member can unfriend on a per contact or per group basis.Alternatively, upon registration, the member decides whom to friendprior to the system friending any contacts.

In the social networking context, upon registration, an application isenabled that interacts with the member's address book to retrievecontacts that the member wishes to friend. The application can runlocally on the device or on a server on the Internet that can access thedevice via the device's Internet connection.

In the presence context, a local application interacts with the contactsin the phone's address book and presents them on the phone's display,manages the authorization of contacts, updates and announces theclient's presence, and receives and displays the presence of contacts.

A graphical user interface of the local application displays an enhancedversion of the phone's address book that includes a visual indicator ofa contact's presence. Optionally, the enhanced address book displayincludes any other presence information associated with each contact.

The local application lets a user authorize or deauthorize a contact andany change of status is communicated to the affected contact, eitherthrough the central server in the CS architecture or directly to thecontact in the PP architecture.

The local application can update the client's presence manually and/or,optionally, semi-automatically and/or automatically. A user can set herpresence information manually via the GUI. Semi-automatic updatesinvolve synchronizing the local application with the phone's internalcalendar, external calendars, or web-based calendars. It can alsoinclude updating presence based on the phone's ring profile. Automaticupdates involve the use of location data, the phone's built-in sensors(the microphone, motion-based sensors, and light sensors), accessoriesor networks connected to the phone (i.e., a car Bluetooth system or theoffice wireless network), and augmented reality.

In another aspect of the present invention the phone number and theaddress book of the device identify users. In modern communication aphone has a phone number assigned to. Although phone numbers are usuallyassigned to a specific person for a long period of time, a person candecide to change the phone number at any point in time. Therefore, phonenumbers do not explicitly identify people. Address books on the otherhand are specific to people due to the fact that even if the socialnetwork of two people is the same, it is highly unlikely that they havethe same exact contact information for each of their contacts. Themanner in which people use phone numbers and address books provides aunique way of telling people apart based on their phone numbers and thedata they store in their address books. Such mapping of phonenumber/address book pairs identifies a person and more than one suchpair can identify the same person.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent in light ofthe following drawings and detailed description of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a fuller understanding of the nature and object of the presentinvention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a hardware diagram of a basic cellular telephone and computernetwork system on which the present invention operates;

FIG. 2 is a logical diagram of the architecture of the system of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of the registration function of the localapplication; and

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of how the local application interacts withthe phone.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present application is a continuation application of U.S.application Ser. No. 13/626,817, hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

One aspect of the present invention is a system that allows a user tosend presence information to contacts in her device's address book towhom she has granted permission—authorized—to receive her presenceinformation—an authorized contact—and to receive the presenceinformation of those contacts in her device's address book that havegranted her permission to receive the presence information—anauthorizing contact. Presence information can include several differentparameters. The most basic form of presence is an indication as towhether or not the user is able to receive phone calls and/or wants toreceive phone calls. Optionally, presence is an indication as to whetheror not the user is able to receive text messages and/or wants to receivetext messages. Optionally, such indications can also have a moredetailed form in which the user specifies with a short message thereason for being or not being able to receive phone calls and/or textmessages.

Optionally, presence can include a short message that describes theuser's current situation and that can further include a picture or avideo that describes the user's current status.

Optionally, presence can be combined with the physical location of thedevice with an arbitrary geographical resolution ranging from thebuilding the user is currently in, through the city the user is in,through the country or continent the user is in. Similarly, presence caninclude the time zone that the device is in. The physical location ofthe device can be determined in several ways, as described below.

A basic hardware system 10 on which the present invention operates isshown in FIG. 1. The service for each cell phone 12 is provided by awireless phone service provider 14, which provides a wireless telephonenetwork and access to a global computer network 20, the Internet, as at16. It does so via a network of antennas 18 and its associatedinfrastructure. Internet service providers 22 provide access to theInternet 20 for desktop computers 24 a, laptop computers 24 b, andtablet computers 24 c. The connections can be hard-wired 26 or through awireless network (Wi-Fi) connection 28. Computers 24 may also access theInternet 20 through a wireless phone service provider 14, like laptopcomputer 24 b.

An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a label assigned to eachdevice (e.g., computer, printer, phone, etc.) participating in acomputer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. AnInternet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4) address consists of 32 bits, whichprovides a limited address space for unique addresses. Because of thelimited number of addresses available using IPv4 and the proliferationof devices that connect to the Internet, IPv6, with a 128-bit addresssize, has been developed. An IP address is assigned to a device eitherat the time of a device restart or permanently by a fixed configurationin the hardware or software of a device.

IP addresses are assigned to a device either permanently or temporarily.When an IP address is assigned permanently, the device has a static IPaddress that will always identify the same device. Temporarily assignedIP addresses—dynamic IP addresses—can change periodically. Dynamic IPaddresses help to ease the limitation of IPv4 address space. The mainidea is that not all devices are connected to the Internet continuously.As a device disconnects, the dynamic IP address is released and assignedto the next device that connects to the network. The IPv6 address spacemakes it possible to assign static IP addresses for each device andthese assigned IP addresses do not need to be released it even if it isnot connected to the network. IPv6 unlocks a range of opportunities fornetwork operations of mobile devices.

Every physical network interface has a unique Media Access Controladdress (MAC address). MAC addresses are usually assigned by the devicemanufacturer and are generally stored in hardware, read-only memory, orother firmware mechanism. The MAC address is permanent and identifies aparticular network interface.

A Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) is a unique reference number used asan identifier. It is usually a 128-bit value.

Every device has unique serial number that is assigned by themanufacturer. Devices from different manufacturers may have the sameserial number, but can be differentiated by the manufacturer.

The system can be structured using a client-server (CS) architecture ora peer-to-peer (PP) architecture. With either architecture, the mainelement of the system of the present invention is an application runningon the device, referred to as the local application. The localapplication can be an element of the device's operating system,pre-installed, or downloadable by the user. Devices running the localapplication act as clients or peers in the system, depending on thesystem architecture, and are referred to hereinafter as clients. Entriesin a client's address book that are also clients are referred tohereinafter as contacts.

A basic logical system 30 of the present invention is shown in FIG. 2.The system 30 consists of one or more central servers 32. The centralserver 32 is responsible for handling registration of clients 34 a, 34b, 34 c, 34 d (collectively, 34). It also stores system membershipinformation and the history of each client. History information caninclude when the client was last seen and changed her status. In the CSarchitecture, the central server 32 as also responsible for handling theconnections for clients 34 and distributing the actual presenceinformation among clients 34. In the PP architecture, clients 34 areable to exchange presence with each other without the assistance of thecentral server 32.

The present invention contemplates that a client 34 can be any devicethat has a display and either an address book or access to an addressbook, and is capable of operatively connecting to the central server 32.The address book can be either local, that is, resident on the device,or can be remote, that is, resident on a server accessible via theInternet. An example of a local address book is Microsoft Outlook and anexample of a remote address book is Google Contacts. Each phone client34 a, 34 b, 34 c is operatively connected to the central server 32through its phone service provider and the Internet, as at 36. Acomputer client (desktop, laptop, tablet, etc.) 34 d can be operativelyconnected to the central server 32 through the Internet, as at 38.Clients 34 may also be operatively connected to third party messageservice providers 40 through its phone service provider and theInternet, as at 42, and the third party message service providers 40 areoperatively connected to the central server 32 through the Internet, asat 44. The phone service providers and message service providers 40 areresponsible for validating clients' phone numbers during theregistration process, as described below. Once the registration processis complete, clients 34 in the CS architecture send their own presenceinformation to the central server 32 and/or retrieve presenceinformation of authorizing contacts from the central server 32. In thePP architecture, clients 34 send their own presence information toauthorized contacts and/or retrieve presence information of authorizingcontacts.

The system of the present invention identifies a client by its phonenumber, IP address, domain name, MAC address, GUID, serial number, or acombination of these. The value selected from this list to uniquelyidentify the device is hereinafter referred to as the client identifier.Any values used as a client identifier must remain fixed, that is, theycannot change. All of the above-listed values, with the exception ofdynamic IP addresses, can be fixed. In order for the IP address to beusable as a client identifier, the IP address must always be known.There are at least two ways to accomplish this. In the first, a deviceis assigned a static IP address, either an IPv4 address or an IPv6address. The static IP address does not change, and so is always known.

In the second, each device is assigned a unique domain name rather thana static IP address. A domain name maps to an IP address through theDomain Name System (DNS), a group of servers that maintains a data baseof domain name-to-IP address mapping. When the device is assigned adynamic IP address, the DNS is updated to reflect the new IP address. Inorder to access a device, the DNS is queried with the domain name,returning the current IP address.

Optionally, for security reasons, the system uses and stores a one-waycryptographic hash of each client identifier instead of the clientidentifier itself so that client identifiers are not stored in an easilyreadable form.

The system can create a map of all of the links between clients, where alink is a logical connection between two clients that allows access byone client to the presence of the other client. Whether a link isactually created between two clients depends on whether or not the firstclient wishes to share her presence with the second client. For example,if a client Alice authorizes a client contact Bob in her address book toaccess her presence information, the system creates and stores aunidirectional link between the client identifiers of Alice and Bob. Inorder to make the link bidirectional, Bob must have Alice in his addressbook and authorize her to access his presence information. The map oflinked clients represents a network that describes the connectionsbetween clients. By providing presence to others, clients can interactwith each other in a social networking way.

The map of linked clients is stored as a data base in the central serveror distributed among the clients, depending on the system architecture,as described above. The structure of the data base is not an aspect ofthe present invention and any type of structure that is adequate to thetask can be used.

As described above, a link is only created if a user authorizes acontact. In one configuration, the user initially authorizes all or adefined group of contacts in her address book and links are created tothose contacts. The user can then revoke authorization on a per contactor per group basis after the links are created. If the authorization fora contact is revoked, the system removes that particular link from themap and the contact in no longer authorized. For example, if Alice'saddress book includes Bob and Carl, those two links will initially becreated. If Alice subsequently revokes authorization for Bob, the linkto Bob will be removed while the link to Carl will remain.

In another configuration, the user decides whom to authorize prior tothe initial links being created. For example, if Alice's address bookincludes Bob and Carl but only Carl is authorized, only a link to Carlwill be created. If Alice subsequently authorizes Bob, a link to Bobwill then be created.

The system permits a user to authorize any contact in her address book.If the user is in the contact's address book and the contact is aclient, access is granted immediately. If the contact is not a client orthe user is not in the contact's address book, the authorized contactmay not know of the authorization. Once the user is added to thecontact's address book and the contact becomes a client, the contact isnotified of the authorization status. For example, if client Bob is inclient Alice's address book but Alice is not in Bob's address book,Alice can authorize Bob, but Bob will not be able to access Alice'spresence. Once Bob enters Alice into his address book, he can accessAlice's presence. Both Alice and Bob can give and withdraw authorizationfor contacts in their own address book to access their presencerespectively. With this approach, the system provides users with fullcontrol over whom they share their presence with at any point in time.

Optionally, the system utilizes a security model that allowsauthorization only between clients that are verified to know each other.A user can only authorize a contact and be authorized by a contact ifshe is in that contact's address book. If Alice is in Bob's addressbook, then Alice can authorize Bob to access her presence information.However, Alice cannot access Bob's presence unless Bob also authorizesAlice. Both Alice and Bob can give and withdraw authorization for othercontacts to access their presence. With this approach, the systemprovides users with full control over whom they share their presencewith at any point in time.

In another aspect of the present invention, the method of authorizingand being authorized is applied more generally to the friending processof social networks. As described above, the friending process, as it iscurrently implemented, requires an invitation from a member inviter toan invitee and a positive reply from the invitee to the inviter. If theinvitee is not a member of the social network, he must join in order tobe friended.

In the present invention, the friending process is unilateral. A memberof the social network merely informs the social network's central serverwhich contacts in her address book she wishes to friend. There is norequirement that the contact agree to the friending or even acknowledgeit. However, another embodiment of the present invention is capable ofworking in a bilateral manner, just like how regular social networkingwebsites operate. In this embodiment, the acceptance and acknowledgementprocess of a friend request sets up a bilateral link. This requires bothparties to be present in each other's address books. Alternatively, ifonly the friender has the contact information of the friendee, a messagecan be sent within the application to the friendee with the contactdetails of the friender, and a choice can be given to accept or declinethe bilateral relationship.

Friending a contact gives that contact access to the member's socialnetwork. What that access entails depends in the design and purpose ofthe social network itself. It can mean that members can store personalinformation and share it with other members. It can mean the friendedcontact can access the member's personal information made public by themember. It can mean that the friended contact can communicate via adedicated system. It can mean that the friended contact has access tocurrent updates of the member, such as the presence information asdescribed above.

The system can create a map of all of the links between members of asocial network. Whether a link is actually created between two membersdepends on whether or the first member wishes to friend the secondmember and allows the second member access to the first member throughthe social network. For example, if member Alice friends member contactBob in her address book, the system creates and stores a unidirectionallink between the client identifiers of Alice and Bob and Bob has accessto Alice through the social network. In order to make the linkbidirectional, Bob must have Alice in his address book and friend her.The map of linked members describes the connections between the membersof a social network.

The system permits a member to friend any contact in her address book.If the friending member is in the contact's address book and the contactis a member, the contact is immediately given access to the friendingmember via the social network. If the contact is not a member or thefriending member is not in the contact's address book, the friendedcontact may not know that he has been friended, but the action offriending the contact is saved in a data base. When a user registers asa member, the data base is searched to determine if that new member hasbeen friended by any other members. If so and if the friending member isin or added to the contact's address book, the friended contact isnotified of being friended and is given access to the friending membervia the social network. For example, if member Bob is in member Alice'saddress book but Alice is not in Bob's address book, Alice can friendBob, but Bob will not know it and will not have access to Alice via thesocial network. Once Bob enters Alice into his address book, he isnotified that he has been friended by Alice and has access to Alice viathe social network. In another example, if members Alice and Bob are ineach others' address book and Alice is a member but Bob is not, Alicecan friend Bob, but Bob will not know it and will not have access toAlice via the social network. Once Bob becomes a member and it isdetermined from the data base that he has been friended by Alice, he isnotified of the friending and is given access to Alice via the socialnetwork.

Both Alice and Bob can friend and unfriend other contacts to permitaccess through the social network. With this approach, the systemprovides members with full control over whom they give access to throughthe social network at any point in time.

Optionally, the system utilizes a security model that allows friendingonly between members that are verified to know each other. A member canonly friend a contact and be friended by a contact if the member is inthe contact's address book. For example, Alice can only friend Bob ifBob is in Alice's address book, Alice is in Bob's address book, and bothare members.

Upon registering with the social network, as described below, in oneconfiguration, the system automatically friends a predetermined subsetof the contacts in her address book and links are created to thosecontacts. The term, subset, is intended to include all, less than all,or a specific group of contacts in the address book. A field of flag inthe contact entry can denote the subset of those that the user wants toinitially friend. The member can then unfriend on a per-contact orper-group basis after the links are created. If a contact is unfriended,the system removes that particular link from the map. For example, ifAlice's address book includes Bob and Carl, those two links willinitially be created upon Alice registering with the social network. IfAlice subsequently unfriends Bob, the link to Bob will be removed whilethe link to Carl will remain.

In another configuration, upon registering with the social network, themember decides whom to friend prior to any links being created. Forexample, if Alice's address book includes Bob and Carl but Alice onlywishes to friend Carl, only a link to Carl will initially be created. IfAlice subsequently friends Bob, a link to Bob will then be created.

Preferably, in the presence context, a user registers with the system tobecome a client. There are currently a number methods of registrationcontemplated, however, any method that is adequate for the presentinvention can be used.

In one method of registration, the user either runs or downloads andruns the local application. Through the local application, the userregisters her email address with an encrypted password to create aclient account, as at 72 in FIG. 3. If the local application is capableof determining the device's client identifier, as at 74, it will ask theuser to verify the identifier, as at 76. If the user verifies theidentifier, the local application sends it to the central server, as at78. If the local application is not capable of determining the device'sclient identifier or the user does not verify the client identifier, thelocal application asks the user to send a text message to the centralserver with the client identifier, as at 80. Once the central serverreceives the client identifier, registration is completed by enablingthe device as a client, as at 82.

In another method of registration, the user can register using a Webinterface, such as a Web browser. The user creates the client accountwith an email address and an encrypted password. The user can thenregister client identifiers.

In another method of registration, the local application can present theuser a unique identification number and initiate a phone call to anautomated call center that asks the user to enter the uniqueidentification number via the keypad of the device.

In another method of registration, the system identifies a user by apair of data items. The pair consists of the device's client identifierand a unique hash value calculated from the contacts data stored in thedevice's address book. Even though the client identifier associated witha specific device and/or the contact data stored in an address book canchange, the possibility of two people having the same client identifierand the same address book is vanishingly small. This condition makes itpossible to unambiguously identify people based on the combination oftheir client identifiers and their address books. Upon registering withthe system, the user registers her client identifier and a hash valuethat has been calculated from the contacts data stored in her addressbook. The local application stores a copy of the address book andcalculates the hash value that resembles the current state of theaddress book, as described below. This hash value is stored on theserver with the client identifier and is updated by the localapplication every time there is a change to the data stored in theaddress book. The local application periodically compares the data inthe address book and the data of the copy of the address book todetermine a percentage value by which the two differ. A differencegreater than a preset threshold in percentage (e.g., more than 50%) isan indication that the client identifier no longer belongs to theclient, but has been assigned to someone else. In such case, the systemdenotes that the client associated with that client identifier asinvalid. When the now-invalid client indicates that her clientidentifier has changed, the system updates the invalid client with thenew client identifier and denotes it as valid again.

As mentioned above, data stored in the address book can be used tocalculate a hash value that serves as a form of identification for theowner of the address book. The address book hash value is calculated byconcatenating the descriptive hash values of each contact stored in theaddress book and calculating a cryptographic hash of the resultingstring. The hash value for a contact is calculated as follows: (1)Normalize all of the phone numbers of the contact, as described below,and sum the digits of all the normalized phone numbers. (2) Sum theinteger values representing the UTF-8 characters of the first name ofthe contact. (3) Sum the integer values representing the UTF-8characters of the last name of the contact. (4) Sum the integer valuesrepresenting the UTF-8 characters of the email address(s) of thecontact. (5) Sum the integer values representing the UTF-8 characters ofthe organization(s) of the contact. (6) Finally, sum the integerscalculated in the previous steps (1) through (5) and assign theresulting integer to the contact as a descriptive hash value. The inputdata used to calculate the sums in steps (1) through (6) can be empty,in which case the corresponding sum is zero. If all the sums calculatedin steps (1) through (6) are zero, the contact is considered to be emptyand the hash value of such a contact is also zero.

To be able to calculate hash values for the contacts and to be able tomatch people based on their phone numbers stored in each other's addressbooks, phone numbers have to be normalized to an internationalstandardized format. Phone numbers are normalized with the followingalgorithm. (1) Determine the international country code of the devicebased on the devices home carrier network information. (2) Remove anyspaces, dashes, brackets or extension numbers, including the characterused to designate the beginning of the extension, from the phone number.(3) If the length of the phone number after step (2) is not between 4and 15 digits, the phone number is considered to be an invalidinternational number. (4) If the phone number begins with +, 00, or 001,drop the prefix and go to step (8). (5) If the phone number begins withthe international country code determined in step (1) and the rest ofthe phone number has enough digits for what is typical in that country,go to step (8). (6) If the phone number does not begin with theinternational country code determined in step (1) but has enough digitsfor what is typical in that country, prefix the phone number with thecountry code determined in step (1) and go to step (8). (7) Check if thephone number is of not enough length that is typical for that givencountry. In this case the phone number is considered internationallyinvalid. (8) Resolve any letters of the English alphabet found in thephone number to the appropriate number.

The aspect of monitoring changes in address books also enables thesystem to determine correlations between the degrees of changes in theaddress books. These correlations can trigger recommendations for theusers' friends.

Upon registration, the client identifier acts as a unique username thatcan be replaced with a specific character combination, such as theclient identifier encrypted, to increase the security of the system.Also, any client identifier can be mapped onto a new global uniqueidentifier or a new local unique identifier. The global uniqueidentifier identifies the user uniquely in the system. For example, anIPv6 address can be mapped onto a phone number or vice-versa. In thecase of a local identifier, the user can map the client identifier ontoa new identifier that is unique only in his address book and not in thesystem.

In the social networking context, a user registers with a central serverto become a member of the social network. The manner of registration andthe information needed to register depend on the needs of the particularsocial network. The registering user needs to provide one or more uniqueidentifiers required by the system, such as a phone number, domain name,email address and/or address book hash value, so the member can beuniquely identified within the social network. The unique identifiersupplied during registration is the member ID. Optionally, theregistering user provides a different and unique value as a member IDthat the central server ties to the unique identifier(s). The uniqueidentifier(s) is necessary because the present invention uses themember's address book to create links to contacts in the address bookand it is presumed that each contact has at least some form of uniqueidentifier(s). When the contact registers with the central server as anew member of the social network, the central server looks at the database to see if that new member's unique identifier(s) has already beenfriended by any older members. If so, the appropriate links are createdand the new member is notified.

Registering with the social network system enables access to the deviceby the central server via a local or remote application. A localapplication runs locally on the device whereas a remote application runson a server, such as the central server, that can access the device viathe device's connection to the Internet. At a minimum, the applicationinteracts with the member's address book to retrieve the uniqueidentifier for a contact that the member wishes to friend.

The local application 50 for the presence context, a diagram of which isshown in FIG. 4, provides the following functions for the client: (1)interacting with the contacts 52 in the device's address book andpresenting them on the device's display 64; (2) managing theauthorization of contacts to access the client's presence 54; (3)updating and announcing the client's presence manually and/or,optionally, semi-automatically and/or automatically 56 via the device'sexternal interface 60; and (4) receiving and displaying the presence ofcontacts 58 via the external interface 60. If the client identifier is adomain name, the local application 50 may also be tasked with updatingthe DNS with the current IP address if it changes.

The graphical user interface (GUI) 62 of the local application displaysan enhanced version of the phone's address book. At a minimum, theenhancement consists of a visual indicator of a contact's presence. Suchan indication can be by an icon or a color. The user can check thestatus of each contact, available or not available, by looking at thevisual indicator associated with the contact. If the contact isavailable, it means that the contact is able to and is willing toreceive phone calls and/or text messages. If the contact is unavailable,it means that the contact will most likely not answer a call and/orresponse to the text message. Optionally, a third status of unknownindicates that the system has no currently presence information for thecontact.

If a contact has not authorized the client to access his presence, thepresent invention contemplates that the indicator may show the contactas unavailable, that there may be no indicator at all, or that there maybe a special indicator. Optionally, the enhanced address book displayincludes any other desired presence information associated with a givencontact, such as text (e.g., the status message), audio (e.g., a soundeffect or audio message), video (e.g., status video), or location data.

A contact menu option or softkey enables the user to authorize ordeauthorize a contact. When a contact is authorized or deauthorized,that change in status is communicated to the affected contact via thedevice's external interface. In the CS architecture, the localapplication notifies the central server of the status change, which thennotifies the affected contact. In the PP architecture, the clientnotifies the affected contact of the status change directly.

Whenever any presence information is changed either manually,semi-automatically, or automatically, the present invention contemplatesseveral possibilities for distributing that change to its authorizedcontacts. In the CS architecture, the local application sends theclient's presence to the central server via the external interface. Oncethe presence information in the central server is updated, how theauthorized clients receive the updated presence depends on whether thepresent invention uses a push model or a pull model. In the push model,the central server forwards the updated presence information to each ofthe authorized contacts. In the pull model, each client periodicallyqueries the central server for updates in the presence of any of itsauthorizing contacts. In the PP architecture using a push model, thelocal application sends the updated client's presence to each authorizedcontact. In the PP architecture using a pull model, a clientperiodically queries each of its authorizing contacts for changes inpresence.

As described above, the local application can update the client'spresence manually and/or, optionally, semi-automatically and/orautomatically. A user can set her presence information manually via theGUI. After presence is set manually, the new setting is available. Inthe CS architecture, the new presence is sent to the central server. Inthe PP architecture, the new presence is either sent or available toauthorized contacts depending on whether the system is employing a pushor pull model.

Typically presence is associated with a single device, that it, when thelocal application updates the client's presence, it is meant to indicatethe new presence of the user of the device that the local application isrunning on. The present invention contemplates that presence of a singledevice can be associated with other devices. For example, if the userhas both a personal phone and a work phone, the two phones can beassociated through their client identifiers so that if the presence ofone is updated, the presence of the other is also updated. Theassociation can be bidirectional, that is, a presence update to eitherdevice will also update the presence of the associated device. Forexample, one device can be set to update presence automatically and theother manually. The presence of both devices will be updatedautomatically through the device set to automatic, and if the presenceof the manual device is updated manually, the presence of both will beupdated. Since there is a potential for conflict, the device that theuser wishes to have priority can be set.

For other than manual presence changes, the local application checks fora change of presence periodically at preset intervals. The interval istypically on the order of five minutes, but can be changed manually ordynamically adjusted based on the load on the system.

Changing presence semi-automatically involves synchronizing the localapplication with the device's internal calendar, external calendars, orweb-based calendars. With this method, the start and end dates and timesof scheduled meetings, appointments, and the like cause the localapplication to set presence. This method also supports the manualoverride of presence.

Optionally, updating presence semi-automatically can include changingpresence based on the device's ringing profile. For example, if a userchanges her ring profile to silent or vibrate only, the system can beset to automatically change her presence to unavailable.

Many devices can provide location data that local applications can usefor location-based services. For example, a device may be equipped witha positioning system (e.g., GPS). Moreover, devices can usuallycommunicate via several different wired and wireless technologies (e.g.,cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, mobile Internet, and USB). A cellular phonecan estimate its location using cellular network data. A Wi-Fi-capabledevice can determine its location using wireless signal data. In theevent a device itself does not provide location data, active networksignals can be used to determine the location of the device. The usermight manually associate a wireless network or USB connection with aspecific location (e.g., home, office, etc.) or activity (e.g.,driving). Some devices combine these technologies to provide enhancedlocation data. Alternatively, the user might manually enter her specificlocation.

The local application can utilize different built-in sensors of thedevice to change presence automatically in conjunction with locationdata. The device's microphone, motion-based sensors, light sensors, andother sensors can be utilized in combination to trigger a change ofpresence automatically, as described below. Also, the identifier of anactive wireless network hot-spot or a Bluetooth system can trigger apresence change automatically. This method also supports manual overrideof presence.

The system can store previously collected or learned patterns of commonactivities involving motion, frequency of alternating motion changes,changes in light conditions, the frequency of changes in lightconditions, changes in ambient sound, the frequency of changes inambient sound, and any combination. The system can use generic patternsand/or can learn user-specific patterns during a training period.

The system can do active pattern matching and tries to match the sampleddata from sensor(s) collected over a period of time with the predefinedpatterns. Each predefined pattern is associated with a specific statusin the system. If the system is able to match the sampled sensor datawith one of the predefined patterns, it automatically sets the presenceinformation to the specific one associated with the predefined pattern.

The microphone of a device can be used to sample the ambient noise. Thesample can be compared to and matched with common noises such as trafficwhile walking, a car while sitting inside, public places such as malls,an office, walking with the phone in the pocket, and a household, suchas a television turned on. Users' presence can be automatically setbased on a match of such sampling.

Motion-based data supplied by a device can also be sampled. The samplecan be compared to and matched with specific human motions such aswalking. The client's presence can be automatically set based on a matchof such sampling. For example, a user can manually set her status to beoffline while sitting in a meeting. After the meeting is over, the userusually walks away from the meeting venue, but she might forget to sether status back to online. By detecting a walking motion paired with achange in the ambient noise, the local application can automatically setthe client's presence to online.

Light sensor data supplied by a device can be used to help set theclient's presence automatically. Light sensor data can be matched withthe time of day to deduce a client's presence. For example, a darkenvironment with the ambient noise of a movie can be interpreted as theuser being in a movie theater and her presence can automatically be setto do not disturb.

These sampling techniques can also be used in conjunction with eachother to further enhance the performance of the system.

The system can also leverage the properties of augmented reality. Thelocation of a client's friends can be determined by extracting locationinformation from the presence of the client's client contacts. The localapplication can display the live camera image of the device the localapplication is running on and indicate if a contact of the user is inthe direction that falls in the angle of view of the camera by utilizinglocation data supplied by the device. As an example of usage of thisfeature, a user could point her device's camera running the localapplication into a meeting room while standing outside of the roombehind closed doors and determine which colleagues are attending themeeting without actually interrupting the meeting by knocking on thedoor.

Thus it has been shown and described a system and method for providingpresence information and connecting persons in a social network. Sincecertain changes may be made in the present disclosure without departingfrom the scope of the present invention, it is intended that all matterdescribed in the foregoing specification and shown in the accompanyingdrawings be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for distributing presence information among a plurality of devices operated by a corresponding user, the system comprising: (a) the plurality of devices operatively connected to each other through a global computer network; (b) each of the devices having an address book with at least one contact; (c) each of the devices having a display on which the address book can be viewed by the user; (d) each of the devices running a local application with access to the address book and the display, the local application including instructions for carrying out a method for distributing the presence information among a plurality of devices, the method comprising the steps of: (1) accepting a change in authorization for the contact from the user and identifying the contact that is authorized as an authorized contact, verifying that the device is in the contact's address book before authorizing the contact, the device having a link with the authorized contact through the global computer network; (2) updating the presence information of the device; (3) making the presence information available directly to the authorized contact through the link; (4) acquiring the presence information from the contact through the link if the device is an authorized contact of the contact; and (5) including the presence information from the contacts for which the device is an authorized contact when displaying the address book on the display.
 2. The system of claim 1 wherein the presence information made available by pushing it to the authorized contact.
 3. The system of claim 1 wherein the presence information is made available by sending it to the authorized contact in response to a query from the authorized contact.
 4. The system of claim 1 wherein the method further comprises sending the change in authorization to the contact affected by the change directly through the link.
 5. The system of claim 1 wherein the method further comprises sending the change in authorization to the contact affected by the change through a server.
 6. The system of claim 1 wherein the presence information includes a location of the device.
 7. The system of claim 1 wherein the presence information includes a message describing a situation of the user. 